First Internet Bank – No Branches? No Problem
You have plenty of online banking options today, but that wasn’t always the case. One online bank, First Internet Bank, has been around since 1999 and now oversees more than $1 billion in assets.
First Internet Bank has one brick-and-mortar location: its corporate headquarters in Fishers, Indiana. Outside of that, its customers do their banking via online and mobile. They can use debit cards to make purchases, take photos of checks to make deposits and use online banking to pay bills and move money to different accounts. First Internet Bank is worth looking into for free savings accounts and checking accounts, if you don’t mind its lack of physical branches.
History
First Internet Bank opened to the public in February 1999, back when online banking wasn’t quite as common as it is today. It wasn’t until the 2000s that First Internet Bank began expanding its services to become the full-service bank it is today.
In 2009, the bank began offering home equity loans and lines of credit. In 2010, it debuted its commercial real estate lending department. In 2015, the bank reached a key milestone, surpassing $1 billion in assets.
Today, customers in all 50 states can bank with First Internet Bank. And the bank still boasts on its site that it has zero branch locations.
Online checking accounts at First Internet Bank
First Internet Bank offers two online checking accounts. Both accounts come with debit cards that you’ll use to make purchases with the funds in them. You’ll also rely on the bank’s online and mobile banking services to make deposits — usually by using an app to snap photos of your checks with your phone — transfer money and pay your bills.
If you prefer writing checks, you can order paper checks from the bank, too.
Free checking account
- Minimum deposit requirement to open: $25. You can open the bank’s free checking account with an initial deposit of at least $25. This account does not generate interest, but it also comes with no monthly maintenance fee.
High interest checking account
- Minimum deposit requirement to open: $100. If you want a checking account that does generate interest, you can sign up with First Internet Bank’s Interest Checking account. You can open this account with an initial deposit of at least $100.
- Checking account interest rate: 0.55 percent. The account will then pay interest — at a rate of 0.55 percent as of the summer of 2017 — as long as you maintain an average daily balance of $500 or more.
- Maintenance fee: $10 per month. The maintenance fee for this account is $10 a month, but you can avoid it by maintaining an average daily balance of at least $500.
- ATM surcharge rebate: $10 per month. The Interest Checking account will also provide a rebate of up to $10 a month on ATM surcharges.
Online savings accounts at First Internet Bank
First Internet Bank offers a variety of online savings accounts, from money market accounts to high yield savings.
Money market account
- Minimum deposit requirement to open: $100. You can open its Money Market Savings Account with an initial deposit of at least $100.
- Money market account interest rate: 0.80 percent. This account as of the summer of 2017 had an interest rate of 0.80 percent for daily balances of $250,000 or fewer and 1 percent with accounts that have a daily balance higher than $250,000.
- Maintenance fee: $5 per month. There is a monthly maintenance fee of $5 that you can avoid by maintaining an average daily balance of $4,000.
Interest savings account
- Minimum deposit requirement to open: $100. The bank’s Regular Savings account requires an opening deposit of at least $100.
- Savings account interest rate: 0.60 percent. It comes with an interest rate of 0.60 percent as of the summer of 2017.
- Maintenance fee: $2 per month. You can skip the $2 monthly maintenance fee by maintaining an average daily balance of at least $1,000.
Free savings account
- Minimum deposit requirement to open: $25. Opening this account requires a minimum initial deposit of $25. The bank’s Free Savings account, as its name suggests, charges no monthly maintenance fees.
- Savings account interest rate: 0.40 percent. The interest rate is smaller than the Regular Savings account. As of the summer of 2017, the Free Savings account comes with an interest rate of 0.40 percent.
Certificates of deposit
- CD interest rates: 0.90 percent to 2.25 percent. If you’re interested in investing in a CD, the bank offers a range of these with terms ranging from three months to 60 months. Interest rates on these products range from 0.90 percent on three-month CDs to 2.25 percent on 60-month CDs.
